collecting information from staff including management
TRANSCRIPT
Collecting Information from Staff including Management
www.ochrance.cz
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Making Questionnaires
● NPM team determines and specifies risk related areas for every
single facility.
● Construction of
– either a list of risk areas and it is up to a member of NPM team to formulate or form the
questions,
– or a list of the specific and particular questions. It does not mean an exclusion of
improvisation in creating other question during an interview.
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General approach for interviewing
● Always give as much space as possible to management or staff to speak
and describe conditions and treatment in facility.
● Do not hesitate to interupt or stop management or staff, if they run away
from the subject.
● Repeat a question, if the answer was not clear and sufficient or if you think
that you did not catch the meaning.
● Ask „why“ questions.
● Interrupt the interview if it‘s long and the person is tired or feels uneasy.
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General approach for interviewing
● Make all members of the staff sure that interview is confidetnial.
● Explain what is the reason of the visit and what is going to be final report,
who is it sent to and what is the purpose of the visit and interview.
● Do not forget to involve staff in improving situation in facility and always
ask: „What should be changed according to you?“ Or: „What should be
improved?“
● Abstain from general evaluation but appreciate practice that has been
according to experience of NPM already found as „good praxis“.
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Prisons – risk areas (1)
Concerning ensuring privacy and respect for human dignity
● In performing thorough body searches, to avoid a situation where
the searched convicts are exposed to other convicts (e.g. by using
screens). It is inadmissible to carry out thorough body searches
collectively.
● Interview is followed by seeing the place and the utensiles.
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Prisons – risk areas (2)
Concerning respect for family life
● The practice in permitting telephone calls should be that calls to other than
relatives should also be permitted in order to maintain the convict’s family
bonds and social bonds: A convict should have the possibility of the most
extensive possible contact with the above people, where the call should be
permitted provided that the specific convict does not pose security risks.
● To enable contact of convicts with their children: A limitation may be
applied only when there is a justified suspicion that the child is being used
as a means of introducing prohibited items.
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Prisons – risk areas (3)
Concerning departments with enhanced technical and structural
security
● To test the regime in the departments: whether convicts have
the possibility of spending their time meaningfully; to be able to socialise at
least between themselves for a certain period during the day (for example
in culture rooms, or while exercising in the yard); to have the possibility of
physical exercise at defined times
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Prisons – risk areas (4)
Concerning departments with enhanced technical and structural
security
● The procedure in applying any other restrictions (e.g. contact-free visits)
should be based exclusively on the evaluation of individual risks. Each
decision in this respect must be based on specific findings justifying any
additional restrictions of a convict’s rights.
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Police Cells
Concerning obligation of Police officers on guard
● to notify the appropriate person that there is the risk that deadlines may be
exceeded and make a record of this notification in the service files
● before placing a person in a cell, to advise the person of their rights and
obligations and the legal reasons for their placement in the cell
● to issue the person with an Advice form in the cell
● to individually assess what items can be classed being “capable of
endangering” life or health and to only confiscate those specific items
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Police Cells
Concerning obligation of Police officers on guard
● when performing inspections, where no special room has been set up for
this purpose, to respect personal dignity and privacy (inspections should
be performed out of the line of sight of cameras, screens should be used,
etc.)
● during medical examinations personal privacy and dignity should be
respected
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Police Cells
Concerning obligation of Police officers on guard
● if there is legitimate reason to suspect that a person is suffering a serious
illness (e.g. if the person is known to the officers from a previous
occasion), it is necessary to request a doctor’s statement on the person’s
ability to be placed in a cell with regard to that person’s state of health
● to allow persons to select a doctor of their own choice
● to respect the right to legal aid without there being a third party present
● to allow people to draw up complaints
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Police Cells
Concerning obligation of Police officers on guard
● Meals should be served with respect to the main mealtimes during the
day, with the proviso that police officers should check in the service
records when the person last ate. The quantity and quality of the food
should be up to normal standards.
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Police Cells
Playing roles – dialogue with policeman
● I was restricted in my freedom at 4.00 P.M. I was placed in the cell at 8.30 P.M. It is
10.30 P.M. now and I feel hungry since I haven’t eaten anything since the morning. Do I
have to wait until breakfast?
● You are entitled to meals three times a day at reasonable intervals between 6.00 A.M. and
10.00 P.M.: The accurate times of serving meals shall be set by the police unit where you are
placed. As a rule, meals are not served between 10.00 P.M. and 6.00 A.M. (the rest period).
In your case, however, you have become entitled (having been restricted for more than
6 hours) to meal serving also between 10.00 P.M. and 6.00 A.M.: Meals can be served to you
in this period, but only at your request.
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Police Cells
General duties of the police
● Information should always be obtained from a doctor concerning the use of
medication, i.e. the time the medication is to be administered, and in what
quantities.
● The station should have a list of lawyers in the local area which would be
available to those held in cells. Police officers must also mediate the right
to legal aid for people placed in cells for reasons of detention, or to those
who are awaiting charges.
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Police Cells
General duties of the police
● It should be ensured that blankets are cleaned regularly and hygiene
supplies provided automatically.
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Facilities for the detention of foreignersand asylum reception centres
Searches of foreigners and their belongings
● Are the foreigner always presented with another independent person that
would guarantee the suitability and dignity of the search when belongings
of foreigner are searched along?
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Facilities for the detention of foreignersand asylum reception centres Shackling of escorted persons
● Do you use shackles for every escorted foreigners?
● What about individual evaluation?
● What is the reason for shackling if the person is evaluated in the escort
decision as inoffensive and can not inhibit the escort process?
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Facilities for the detention of foreignersand asylum reception centres
Privacy during visits
● Could you describe what happens during visits?
● How do you maintain privacy?
● Example of wrong and improper question: ● Do you enable the detained persons to have reasonably physical contact
with visitors? ● Do you find the visiting room suitable to ensure a sufficient level of privacy
during visits?
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Facilities for the detention of foreignersand asylum reception centres
Lockable spaces for personal items ● Do the detained foreigners have at their disposal a lockable space to
deposit their personal items in?
Sending official documents
● Under which codition do you provide postage stamps todetained foreigners? How do you actually guarantee to the poor foreigners the right to appeal to a court or other institutions, when you do not provide them postage stamps?
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Facilities for the detention of foreignersand asylum reception centres
Health care extent
● How can be a foreigner sufficiently and clearly informed of the health care provided? (Provide any instructions on the nature and purpose of the most frequent medical examinations and medicines in foreign-languages?)
● Do you have instructions for rejecting a medical intervention and respecting the privacy of the person subject to examination in necessary language versions?
● How do you provide the foreigner information regarding the fact, that the presence of a third person during medical check can only be allowed in well-founded cases?
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Homes for People with Disabilities
Free movement
● What is a minimum standard regarding the accompanied excursions?
● Is anyhow independence of movement related to the issue of legal capacity?
● Wrong and improper question:
● Do you analyse and evaluate the risk potentially represented by independent movement of specific clients outside the premises?
● If the risk is unreasonably high, what do you do to minimise it?
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Homes for People with Disabilities
Autonomy of will
● Could you describe communication with client that is unable to usespeech?
● Do you understand such a client?● Did you have any systematic training in alternative and augmentative
communication? Or do you only rely on your empathy?
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Homes for People with Disabilities
Autonomy of will
● Who chooses the client‘s clothes? Could you describea process of choosing clothes?
● Who decide what is a rhythm of the day? E.g. time for getting up or going
to bed.
● Does a client stay constantly in the same place all the day long? If not, name other places, where he/she stays.
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Homes for People with Disabilities
Privacy ● Do the clients have privacy in the performing of hygiene? ● Are the doors to bathrooms closed when assistance or support in the
performing of hygiene is provided?
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Homes for People with Disabilities Care
● Where do you place emphasis on? On the nursing aspect of care? ● What about some sensual activities (visual stimuli, more frequent
interactions initiated by the personnel) and changing environments? ● How many times during a day do you change a natural environments for
clients with severe forms of mental disability, e.g. a combined disability? ● Who is responsible for ensuring psychiatric care? Are there any problems?
● Is a psychiatrist member of the nursing team?
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Homes for People with Disabilities
Care
● Where do you place emphasis on? On the nursing aspect of care? ● What about some sensual activities (visual stimuli, more frequent
interactions initiated by the personnel) and changing environments? ● How many times during a day do you change a natural environments for
clients with severe forms of mental disability, e.g. a combined disability? ● Who is responsible for ensuring psychiatric care? Are there any problems?
● Is a psychiatrist member of the nursing team?
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Making ADDITIONAL Questionnaires
● As a result of findings, debriefings and triangulations.
● So called „deep digging“ method – if there is any doubt that under
„surface“ could be hidden any problem, we ask again, change formulation,
point of view, emphasis just to discovere, what is situation like.
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Deep Digging – show me immediately what shacklings means
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Deep Digging – enough space for outing
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Závěr, kontakty, zpracovatel….
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Thank you
● www.ochrance.cz (english version)
Monitoring Places of Detention section
(annual + quarterly reports, recommendations)
● Office of the Public Defender of Rights
Údolní 39, Brno, Czech Rep.
Ladislav Tomeček